Victory in sport is in bringing S’pore together

The letter, “S’pore on the right track to sporting success with foreign-born players” (Aug 16), contained an interesting viewpoint, but I have to disagree with its premise.

After 49 years of nation-building, is importing players our best solution to a talent shortage? And of greater concern is the opinion that “no amount of effort by our local-born paddlers can win us a medal”.

If this is the prevailing thought in society, then Singapore faces a bleak future. Having hope and belief in the next generation is what fuels the motivation to invest in them.

The point is to galvanise a country to come together to cheer a homegrown talent to the finish line.

I take nothing away from the foreign-born athletes who did Singapore proud recently. However, we must decide what we expect of our athletes. Is the measure of success only to win medals at all costs? Or is it to represent Singapore with pride and sportsmanship, inspiring a future generation to go further?

While cash-laden countries can buy medals or success, a victory is not only about winning, but also about winning against all odds. We could buy our way to sporting honours to put us on the map, but what message would it send to the next generation?

Let us redouble our efforts and work with what we have — that is, our fellow countrymen who will fight to do Singapore proud and get the nation behind them, not with the promise of medals, but the shared belief that we are in this together.

To me, this builds nations and bonds that no adversity can break.